World

US civilian contractor was killed by a gunmen that also injured another contractor north of Baghdad, while a US helicopter fire killed seven people suspected of preparing a rocket attack on an American base near Tikrit, the military said Friday. Unrelenti

US President George Bush has said steps were being taken to speed up the transfer of power in Iraq. The news comes amid mounting violence casualties, and after France has called for an urgent change of the US strategy in the war-torn Iraq.

Sri Lanka's peace process will be on hold until the country's political crisis is resolved, a Norwegian mediator in the talks has said. Norway has played a key part in negotiating peace between Sri Lanka's Government and the Tamil Tigers.

US troops in Iraq arrested Thursday night six Iraqis suspected in attacks against US helicopters, including at least two allegedly involved in last week's downing of a Black Hawk that killed all six Americans on board, officials said Friday. The six were

Poland's football team won a 3-1 victory over Italy's at a special match in Warsaw organized to mark the Pope's 25th anniversary in office. At a meeting with the Polish-born pontiff John Paul II, the teams presented him with a crystal football and a numb

The US has struck at Iraqi insurgents hours after Wednesday's suicide bomb attack at an Italian base in Nasiriyah, and destroyed a warehouse in Baghdad. The US soldiers also chased Iraqis who were seen firing mortars.

The US has challenged the United Nations (UN) nuclear energy watchdog's report that says Iran has not been trying to develop nuclear weapons. US Under-secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton said the assessment was "impossible to believe".

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said his country would not be deterred by the deadly bomb attack on the Italian headquarters in Iraq, which claimed the lives of 18 Italians and about a dozen of other people. Italy remains committed to helpin

The Palestinian legislature approved Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia's Cabinet Wednesday after he and Yasser Arafat made pleas for an end to violence and a renewal of peace talks with Israel. Qureia won approval for his new government, despite complaints abou

US-led forces launched a military operation in Baghdad late Wednesday, setting off a series of explosions that rumbled through the centre of the Iraqi capital. In Washington, a Pentagon official confirmed the operation but gave no details about exact loca

At least 25 people, of which 17 Italian police officers, have reportedly been killed in a truck bomb attack on the Italian headquarters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya. A number of other Italians, as well as local Iraqis, are said to have been inju

Head of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council Jalal Talabani has called for a provisional government to be installed as soon as possible. It is reasonable and necessary to have a provisional government before a new constitution, Talabani insisted.

The US Congress has approved tough new sanctions on Syria for its alleged ties to militant extremists and purported efforts to obtain nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The measure received final approval from the Senate in a vote of 89 to 4.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze warned his opponents, who call for his resignation, they would have to answer for their actions before the law. "Those who have insulted our people will answer before the law.

US military has been questioning about 20 people in Iraq suspected of being linked to the al-Qaeda terrorists network, US officials have said Tueday. US troops have detained a number of foreign nationals in the country - including Yemenis, Sudanese, Syria

Four Iraqis died and nine people were hurt, when a bomb exploded in the centre of Basra, AFP reported. A second blast echoed over dowtown Basra about midday (0900 GMT), an AFP correspondent reported Tuesday, but it was not immediately known if there were

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has agreed to meet political rival President Chandrika Kumaratunga, but flatly rejected her proposal for a unity government, a spokesman said. Wickremesinghe also accused the president of damaging the peace p

Two activists of the opposition bloc Saakashvili-National Movement went on hunger strike in one of the wings of the Georgian parliament's building demanding the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, ITAR-TASS said. A protest rally continued throug

The people of Iraq will have poorer health for generations as a result of the war, according to a report of Medical charity Medact. The report points destroyed immunisation programmes and water systems, environmental degradation and smoke from oil fires a